(Photo via Sammy Nute/WCSN)
The Sun Devils finished the Littlewood Classic with a 3-2 tournament record and a 5-4 overall record after losses to then-No. 16 Virginia Tech and Cal State Fullerton and face a quick turnaround on Wednesday in a doubleheader against UTEP before starting the Sun Devil Classic on Thursday that will carry into Sunday.
Historically against UTEP, the Sun Devils have seven wins to only three losses against the Miners, with a combined score of 31-1 in their last two games. Graduate infielder Jordyn VanHook had an RBI single in the 2022 meeting and will try to channel that same success, looking past recent struggles in her first four games of the season.
For the Miners, they enter this game with a 10-2 record after going 4-1 in the UTEP Classic last weekend. With an average margin of victory during the classic of a little over five runs, the Miners are coming into Tempe hot and looking to stay that way. Their hitting throughout the lineup this season has been well spaced out, having five different players with a home run.
One player in particular has started the season on fire. In her 34 at-bats so far, sophomore outfielder Halle Hogan leads her team with three of UTEP’s 10 home runs and is third on the team with nine RBIs. It will also be a homecoming for Hogan, as she is from Buckeye, Arizona, and attended Buckeye High School before playing softball for South Mountain Community College and then transferring to UTEP after her freshman year.
In the circle, the Miners have a combined ERA of just 2.63 and have an average batter average of .214. They have just two pitchers in the win-loss column, both going 5-1 in their appearances.
ASU will most likely face both pitchers in their doubleheader, with the Miners’ best pitcher being freshman left-hander Faith Aragon, who leads her team with a 2.12 ERA and 32 strikeouts in 33 innings pitched. Although she has almost a one-strikeout per-inning ratio, she has also been responsible for the only two home runs the Miners have given up all season. The Sun Devils have hit eight home runs on the season and can use that as their strong suit against Aragon to get her off the mound early.
UTEP’s other top pitcher is graduate student Taja Felder, putting up a 2.60 ERA in 29.2 innings. However, she has just eight strikeouts and has walked 13 batters this season. ASU has drawn 33 walks this year, and staying patient in the batter’s box will be a key factor in forcing UTEP head coach T.J. Hubbard to look to the bullpen earlier than he wants.
The Miners’ offense can heat up quickly, with already 63 runs scored in 12 games this year compared to the Sun Devils’ 43 runs, but the pitching staff of ASU is always up for the challenge. Giving up just 37 collective runs all year, the Sun Devils will be confident in whoever is in the circle for them.
Facing a long week ahead of them with a game every day through Sunday, a sweep of the Miners will set ASU up with high spirits heading into the Sun Devil Classic. Graduate transfers outfielder Kelsey Hall and infielder Alesia Denby are slowly becoming leaders of the team, and the Sun Devils are now starting to settle in and develop a chemistry that will serve them well throughout the season.
